AREA 81 Meetup Featured in this Post This Gen Z Pair Built a $34M Startup in Canada, Only to Move to U.S. Y Combinator Reverses Decision, Will Invest in Canadian-Domiciled Startups Again This Gen Z Pair Built a $34M Startup in Canada, Only to Move to U.S. Two Gen Z founders—neither of them Canadian—built Internet Backyard while studying in Vancouver, raising $4.5 million USD at a $34.5 million CAD valuation before relocating to San Francisco to scale. Co-founder Mai Trinh is

Photo: AREA 81 Coffee Chat in Owen Sound, Ontario. Featured in this Post It's Go Time Get Your Business AI-Ready: A Guide for Entrepreneurs Get Good at [AI] Agents The Carney Doctrine: Between rhetoric and reality Ontario Investing to Protect Rural Communities The Truth About Family Offices and the New Farm Legacy Bruce Power signs multi-year agreement with NPX to drive innovation and growth Research: Conventional Cybersecurity Won’t Protect Your AI Rural America is getting a

An Mi6 series on next-generation entrepreneurs and ventures We believe the next generation of ventures will not be built by working harder, moving faster, or sacrificing more of the founder. They will be designed . Designed to create, deliver, and capture value without burning human capacity. Designed to compound economic, social, and cultural capital over time. Designed to use technology and AI as leverage — not as substitutes for judgment . In a world where execution is ab

Epistemic Discipline Before Speed In a world where execution is abundant and speed is cheap, the real constraint is decision quality . The founders and ventures that endure will be those that practice discipline before momentum, clarity before commitment, and value exchange before growth. These ventures are not built to consume their creators, but to serve them — as vehicles for learning , freedom , and long-term prosperity for themselves and others . Explainer Video The

Ian Burgess explains why AI fluency, apprenticeship, and systems thinking will shape the future of rural entrepreneurship and workforce development.

Being an entrepreneur in November 2025

UPDATE: The ACorp project was suspended in Dec 2025. Thanks to everyone who contributed and participated in this test project. The Problem Not enough creators, such as musicians, earn a sustainable living. Money is being made in the music industry though. Yet, value leaks at every step—platforms, labels, ticketing, middlemen, venues—leaving artists with a fraction of what their music, time and hard word generates. Some artists lack clear, practical pathways to capture value (

Picture: AREA 81 Coffee Chat, Port Elgin | Join AREA 81 Covered in this Round Up: FUNDING | DEMOGRAPHICS | INDIGENOUS Why Standard Productivity Advice Doesn’t Work for ADHD Entrepreneurs Many productivity strategies assume steady focus, structured routines and the ability to power through less‑engaging tasks—but those assumptions don’t align with how ADHD brains operate. ADHD often involves inconsistent executive function, shifting energy levels, and a stronger drive for i

Discover how private capital is reshaping Canada beyond the billionaire myth. Learn how AREA 81 wants to empower rural communities with private capital.